Publication - FOI/EIR release
Audit Scotland report into Children and Young People's Mental Health: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Date responded: 10 October 2018FOI reference: FOI/18/02468
Date received: 12 September 2018
Information requested
- All draft versions of Audit Scotland's report (published 13/9/18) into Children and Young People's Mental Health.
- All correspondence between Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government (ministers and staff) relating to the report (including suggested changes).
Response
- While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested, namely all draft versions of the report. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because Audit Scotland produces this document, therefore we do not hold all draft versions on our systems. We have released draft copies of the report where we have them at Annex A. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. However, you may wish to contact Audit Scotland using the FOI form at their website http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/contact-us/freedom-of-information. Audit Scotland may be able to help you with the draft versions.
- I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in PDF format at Annex A. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide all of the emails you have requested because an exemption under Section 30(c) of FOISA (substantial prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested. In our view, disclosure would impede the audit process and prevent the free and frank exchange of views between Scottish Government officials and Audit Scotland necessary to undertake a systematic audit. This exemption is subject to the public interest test. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of the this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. In addition, Under Section 25(1) of FOISA, we are not providing the progress reports on the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 that form an attachment to one of the emails being released as this is publically available and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Mental-Health/Strategy/StrategyImplementation/MentalHealthStrategy-ReportsonProgess. For the same reason, we are not providing the progress tracker which forms an attachment to an email, as the information this contains is available at:
https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Mental-Health/Strategy/StrategyImplementation/MentalHealthStrategy-ReportsonProgessJune2018
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you either a paper copy or a PDF copy of the information as required. An exemption under section 38(1) (b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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